Aslan Shehebar A"H

Aslan was born in Cairo, Egypt on July 23, 1934. Until age 11 he lived with his 6 brothers and 3 sisters in Cairo, where they spoke Arabic and French. Although the family was surrounded by those of many other faiths, he and his siblings were raised with orthodox Torah values and traditional Jewish beliefs in their hearts and minds. He was given the Hebrew name, Yehuda.

 At the very young age of 11 and having lost both parents, Aslan moved from Egypt to Israel where his older sisters, Alegra and Alice helped raise him and his younger siblings. Some of his older brothers went to Cuba, and then to America where they started businesses in the textile industry, as they learned from their late father, Abraham.

 In Israel Aslan studied hard, mastered the Hebrew language, and worked for the postal service as a mailman. He began to use his Hebrew name Yehuda, more and more. In 1956 in Israel, he met and married Leila Sheena who originally immigrated to Israel from Bagdad, Iraq in 1946 when she was 7. They had 2 children in Israel, Giselle who was born 3/11/57, and Abie who was born 2/6/58. 

Just days before the 6 day war, Aslan got word from his brothers in NY that all was ready for him to move his family to America and come join them.   On May 17, 1967 he boarded a Greek Ferry liner in Haifa with his wife Leila and 2 children for a journey that lasted 2.5 weeks. They traveled from Haifa to Greece, and then entered NY via Ellis Island on May 29, 1967. During that voyage, his wife Leila was nauseas and remained in the cabin throughout most of the trip. The family later learned that Leila was pregnant with their youngest child Miriam Shehebar who was conceived in Israel and born in NY on 1/22/68.

In America, Aslan and his family settled in Brooklyn NY, in an area known as Gravesend. His brothers helped him with a job in their textile factories and there he worked day and night to earn a living and support his family.  His brothers Gabriel, SouSou and Charlie helped them settle into their new lives in a new country.

Not long after, Aslan learned the ropes of his new environment and changed his name from Yehuda to Jerry.  He set out to open several retail stores in Far Rockaway NY, and on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. He was a self made entrepreneur who worked hard for many years in those locations while honing his language and import/export skills. He learned to speak many languages including French, Arabic, Hebrew Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.  Later, in Atlantic City the boardwalk was about to undergo major construction. Several large investors bought out all the small shops along the boardwalk and replaced them with casinos. This led to many changes and it was approximately 1978 when Aslan moved his businesses out of NJ to uptown Manhattan. He later put his language skills to use as he imported and exported goods to the Caribbean islands and Central America.

Aslan was an honest man with a tremendous heart and a great sense of humor. Often known as “Jerry”, he was the life of the party and the center of attention. A loving Husband, father and grandfather, he enjoyed being around people and helping them. He was rich with passion and had a great love of life. His magnetic personality will be remembered by all those that he touched and all those who loved him.